Raising a Good Kid: Chances Are You're Doing Just Fine [Paperback]

John F. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

Raising teens seems tougher than ever. They don't come with an owner's manual and the challenges and pressures they face are different from those we had to cope with. But, as John F. Smith says in this book, parents do have resources-things we intuitively and intelligently know. A seasoned educator and parent, he urges parents to step back from a fear-based approach to raising teens and to develop an appreciation of how their teens are already "good kids"-and how they are already good parents. While recognizing the need for discipline, his approach encourages parents always to keep the bigger picture in mind and to provide both the structure and the freedom that kids need to learn how to become responsible and independent adults. This is not a "how-to" or "what you're doing wrong" book, but rather a reassuring, confidence-builder which addresses the issues parents are most concerned about-character, achievement, school, sexuality, and faith.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Smith, an educator and Episcopal priest, offers a nondenominational religious approach to exploring the spirituality necessary in raising a "good" kid, one who is not only ethical but also spiritual in the sense of being authentic and purposeful. "A good kid is simply the person God has created, living out his or her potential, being who he or she is before God," writes Smith. Citing his own experiences with parents and youth in his 40 years as teacher and chaplain at Groton School in Massachusetts, Smith advises parents to supplement their considerable efforts with prayer and spiritual reflection. He also proposes that parents rely less on experts and use their own intuitive and intellectual resources to realistically evaluate their children as moral and ethical individuals. Smith examines several aspects of child rearing: spirit, school, sex, and the common good. This slim book of solid advice and inspiration is sure to set many an anxious parent's heart at ease. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

...a balance of affection and accountability, admonition and understanding, conscience and compassion. -- M. Burch Tracy Ford, Head of School, Miss Porter's School

...should be required reading not just for parents, but...all of us whose lives are touched by teenagers. -- The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw SSJE, Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts

...wise, generous, modest, tough-minded, and mercifully immune from contemporary fad, hustle, and ideological blather about family values. -- David Halberstam, award-winning journalist and author

An admirable book, full of wisdom, insight, and reaffirmation. -- Sam Waterston, Actor

Every parent who reads it will benefit. More to the point, so will every kid. -- James Carroll, author of Constantine's Sword

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: Sorin Books (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893732436
• ISBN-13: 978-1893732438
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,519,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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